“A lot of why I climb is for the friendship, the loyalty and trust, the shared experienced of being in that moment.”
Jimmy Chin
Character Stories – Relationships
Sunsets, sunrises, big waves, epic single-track, deep powder. When you plan a trip, it’s usually in search of something, but it’s rarely the epic that makes the best story. It’s the family who invites you in out of the rain, likeminded folks you meet along the way, the random person you meet in a national park bathroom and end up talking to for hours until you’re interrupted by northern lights.
We have some pretty amazing small local communities in the outdoor sports world. Sea kayakers, rock climbers, adventure racers, cycling and running groups, surfers who spend the winter months with icicles on their hoods catching waves on the Bay of Fundy.
Stories about the relationships within these communities are both interesting and captivating. They’re just regular folks, but unique in their passion for what they do, and for their drive to do it in a place where it isn’t always straightforward.
I’d like to follow small groups within these communities to document how relationships within the community have influenced their individual paths.
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
T.S. Eliot
A Story About a Place in my Life
Mount Katahdin, Maine
No single place I’ve been has had a bigger impact on me than Mount Katahdin in Northern Maine. The northern terminus of the Appalachian trail, Katahdin has an elevation gain of 4000+ feet in just a few miles, and in places is more of a climb than a hike.
Since my first trip there almost 20 years ago, I’ve been back more times than I remember. It’s been the site of memorable first dates and team building adventures. I’ve been stuck up there in wind and rain and lightning. I’ve had easy days and hard days, long and short.
I’d like to tell the story of this place as a transformative experience for my own life, taking a regular selfish, athletic kid, and turning him into a someone that loves sharing the outdoors and exposing new people to it.
“Anyone can be happy and cosy. Nothing good happens in the world by being happy and cosy.”
Alex Honnold
Story about a Place, an Adventure, and an Accomplishment
I had a conversation with someone, somewhere, sometime, on some trip about how easy it is to get hyper focused on exploring and travelling in foreign places and never really explore your home. So I made it a point to prioritize seeing the rest of Canada and exploring more locally, for each foreign trip I plan, I would plan something locally or in Canada of equal length.
Inspired by a much more intense trip of 50 US State high points in 50 days completed by Melissa Arnot, I came up with this route, a plan to high point the 3 Maritime provinces and 7 northeast states in 10 days (10 peaks in 10 days)
This is very clearly an adventure, and the story would play out as such, tracking progress and the experience. But the story is also a testament to the adventure that can be had locally, and would culminate in the completion of a pretty awesome mission. All 3 of those factors would combine to make a very compelling story.
Chasing Windmills 